St. Francis' Matthew Nuumanaia puts up a shot attempt over Kalaheo's L.J. Barnes. Sean Nakamura | SL

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St. Francis' Ranan Mamiya completes a lay-up after a break-away with the ball against Kalaheo. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Kalaheo's Kupa'a Harrison passes the ball on the break against Saint Francis. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Sat, Nov 30, 2013 @ Castle

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Saint Francis

40

Kalaheo

41

Final	1	2	3	4
Saint Francis (9-2, 18-13)	10	11	10	9	40
Kalaheo (11-3, 26-10)	13	9	9	10	41

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

K. Harrison 15 pts  5/8 FTs

M. Nuumanaia 16 pts  1 3pm  5/6 FTs

K. Thomas 7 tot

M. Nuumanaia 6 tot

K. Smith 2 ast

R. Mamiya 2 ast

KANEOHE – A rare battle between two reigning state champions certainly lived up to its billing Saturday night.

Kalaheo, the 2013 Division I basketball state and Oahu Interscholastic Association champions, held off Saint Francis, 41-40, in the final game of the Castle Basketball Invitational at James Bicknell Castle High School.  Saint Francis won the Division II basketball state title back in February of this year.  The win was the Mustangs’ fifth of the preseason.

“Our kids had to fight through parts of the game we’re we had to get stops,” said Kalaheo coach Alika Smith.  “We struggled on the free throw line, but positively we dug down (deep) and did what we needed to do (to win).”

Junior Kupa’a Harrison had a team-high 15 points to lead the Mustangs.  Harrison also grabbed six rebounds and gathered two steals while notching an assist and a blocked shot.

“Tough win,” said Harrison after the game.  “They’re physical; they made it hard for us to get into our offense and our flow, but we played pretty well.  A couple of guys stepped up (tonight) and that was key (to our win).”

Harrison, the starting center for the 2013 state title team, looks to be the number one scoring option for a rather young Kalaheo team as the Mustangs lost a lot of players due to graduation.

“I just (need) to lead (the team),” Harrison said about his added responsibilities this season.  “We lost (about) 12 seniors (to graduation), but we had a good junior varisty team (last year).  There are some guys that came up that are pretty good.  My job is to give them the experenice that I had last year and to try and lead them in the right direction.”

“He’s going to have to lead the team,” added Smith.  “He’s a born leader; his nickname is ‘Coach` on the court.  Having him on the team (with) his basketball savvy goes a long way, especially for the younger kids.”

Checking Harrison for most of the night was the reigning Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II player of the year Matthew Nuumanaia.  The 6-foot-5, senior finished with 16 points, six rebounds, two blocked shots, an assist and a steal.

“This year he’s a senior now so he takes the leadership role,” Saint Francis coach Solomon Batoon said of Nuumanaia.  “His primary role is to educated the young guys, to help them get their game going to help develop the depth on our team.  He’s an offensive threat; he’s able to slash to the basket, able to take the jumper, able to take the three, and even able to post you up.”

Also filling out the stat sheet for Saint Francis was football standout Ranan Mamiya.  Despite playing with a sprained ankle, Mamiya notched six points, five rebounds, four assists, and a game-high six steals.

“He’s an amazing athlete,” Batoon said about Mamiya.  “He gives it his all, just like he does in football. “

Mamiya’s ball hawking skills was evident early on, gathering a loose ball on the Mustangs first possession.  Harrison drew first blood with a put back off a teammates miss, but Mamiya responded with a dribble drive to the hoop to tie things up.  It was a back and forth first quarter with the Mustangs winning the opening period 13-10 behind Harrison’s seven first quarter points.

Kalaheo carried over some momentum into the second quarter, forcing turnovers on the Saints first three possessions of the second quarter.  However, the Saints were also effective on the defensive end, deflecting passes to hinder Kalaheo’s offense.  Mamiya got a steal and went coast to coast to cut the lead to one which was followed by Nuumanaia splitting a pair of free throws to tie things up at 13-all.  The Mustangs responded with a three-pointer from point guard Kekai Smith, prompting a timeout at the 4:31 mark.

Following the timeout, Saint Francis went on a 6-0 run to claim their first lead of the game.  A Mamiya to Nuumanaia connection cut the lead to one.  After that, Nuumanaia was able to find Janson Kupau out of a double team for a free throw jumper to put the Saints up by one.  Mamiya’s steal and dish to Keola Kealoha capped the Saint Francis run.

The Mustangs battled back and actually was able to reclaim the lead before the break, thanks to Harrison’s runner through contact, seconds before the halftime buzzer.  Kalaheo led 22-21 after halftime. 

It was a dogfight of a third quarter as the score was tied at 31 apiece heading into the final period of regulation.  Some highlights of the third quarter included Nuumanaia’s volleyball-like put back and Harrison’s strong defensive play.

Nuumanaia hit a corner trey off of a baseline inbounds pass to start the fourth quarter scoring.  Harrison responded by driving the ball at Nuumanaia and drawing the foul.  Harrison scored the next three points to tie things up at 34-all.

Sloppy, preseason basketball led to a short scoring drought, before Dario Delcastillo and Zach Marrotte hooked up on a fast break opportunity to put the Mustangs up by two.  However, this closely fought game wouldn’t end without some form of late game drama to make things interesting.

While the Mustangs were on offense, it appeared like a Saint Francis player intentionally stuck his leg out to deflect a pass.  Ultimately that possession resulted in a turnover for Kalaheo and a fast break opportunity for the Saints.  Coach Smith tried to argue for a kick ball call, but was given a technical foul instead.  Nuumanaia calmly hit free throws to tie things up at the 2:38 mark.

The Saints were unable to get anything going on the ensuing possession while the Mustangs kept drawing fouls.  Mamiya fouled out with 46 second left in regulation, sending Kela Thomas to the line.  A notable stat for Thomas was that six of his seven rebounds were on the offensive side of the court. 

Saint Francis were forced to play the foul game late, but eventually ran out of time on the clock to pull of the win.

“We didn’t play real well today,” said Batoon after the game.  “We had a lot of mental lapses on the defensive end.  Offensively we’re okay, but defensively when you’re not able to stop dribble penetration, that’s a problem.  Kalaheo is a good team, state champions for Division I.  We tried to represent Division II tonight, but we just didn’t capitalize on our opportunities.”  

Saint Francis’ Kealoha and Mamiya were dealing with injuries prior to the game.  Kealoha has an injured tendon ligament while Mamiya is dealing with an ankle sprain.  Mamiya also had to deal with a shoe malfunction in the first half. 

“We’re looking forward to winning another ILH title,” Batoon said on the team’s expectations for the season.  “If we do win it it’ll be our third year in a row winning the ILH.  There are some good teams out there, we just got to be able to stay healthy and continue to do what we’re doing.  We’re not going to look past that, just one game at a time.” 

Kalaheo also had their fair sure of injuries, missing Alec MacLeod, one of the few returnees from the previous season.  He was seen with a walking boot after the game.

“We have a good chance to be successful in the OIA,” Harrison said.  “We have some guys (like MacLeod) right now that aren’t playing, but they are going to be key guys (this year).”